Someone told me that this week was national vegetarian week so I thought we should celebrate on the blog! I love being veggie, it’s awesome and so delicious, but I know lots of people are nervous of veggie meals as there are lots of preconceptions out there that a meatless meal will be unsatisfying and bland, which I promise is absolutely not the case. That being said, I’m not trying to convince anyone to become a total veggie but I thought I’d share some tips and ideas to inspire you to try to either experiment with a couple of veggie meals (if this is a new concept for you) or to inspire the people in your life to try it!

1. Focus on Presentation

We all eat with our eyes first so it’s really important that the meal looks beautiful. Spend time putting the finished dish into a bowl or plate that really shows it off – I find pasta bowls are the best way to serve food, the shape always looks great. I also try to get as much colour into every meal too as I love to eat a rainbow. If the dish itself isn’t that colourful, like a curry or stew, then sprinkle fresh herbs over the top to add a pop of green and break up the colour.

2. Sharing is Caring

If you’re trying to introduce healthy veggie meals to friends then sharing plates can be the best way to do this. Sharing food is always so fun as it means everyone gets to try everything and it’s so much more interactive! It also means that it doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t like something as there will be lots of other delicious dishes for them to love and try, so there’s no way they’ll go home saying that they hated the food!

3. Skip the Salad

I made a rule when I first started eating this way that I’d never serve a salad as my main dish to non-heathy eaters, as no matter how delicious and beautiful the salad is it’s still salad so it may still play into their stereotype that veggie food is only about salads! Instead I share heartier, more satisfying meals like my favourite Coconut Thai Curry and Veggie Chilli from my book, I serve both with lots of brown rice so that the dishes look really comforting and no one ever leaves hungry! The dishes also look so much more familiar, which is great as sometimes a big bowl of raw kale can look scary to non-health freaks whereas hopefully these dishes won’t get that reaction!

4. Go Natural

Skip the processed foods and go for natural ingredients. Eating a veggie meal should be about embracing delicious ingredients like sweet potatoes, avocados, quinoa, black beans, nuts, seeds, greens, carrots etc rather than manufactured veggie foods like quorn which don’t taste great and they’re full of rubbish that you just don’t need! If you’re nervous about getting enough protein, calcium or iron then check out my blog posts on them as hopefully these will ease your fears!

5. Love Your Beans

Beans are one of my all time favourite ingredients – they’re delicious, cheap, easy and filling. I throw beans into so many of my meals as they instantly bulk my plate up, so they’re a great meat replacement. I love sautéing black beans or cannellini beans in garlic and miso, both taste so delicious! Hummus is also amazing as it’s so simple to make and it’s really cheap – it’s so much cheaper to make it yourself too than to buy it. I love serving hummus as a snack when I have friends over and I find they’re always so excited by homemade hummus and say it’s so much nicer than the supermarket versions – so you’ll look like a domestic goddess, which is always fun!

6. Be Generous 

Veggies aren’t as filling as gluten or meat so you need to eat more than you think, so I always make big portions of everything. It also means that your table will look abundant, which I think is also helpful for enticing sceptics as a beautiful table piled high with bright, delicious looking food makes anyone excited! Besides, we don’t want anyone to go home hungry!